Driving diagonally across Colorado
Jan 10th, 2002, 10:54 AM
#3
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It's certainly doable in day, but a stop in Ouray (or Leadville) like rqf suggests would make it nice instead of drudgery. You'll be driving through some very beautiful country and it would a shame to miss getting out of your car to enjoy it.
The time of year will make a difference as to drive times and appropriate routes, by the way. It would be worth checking out road conditions at www.cotrip.org or (877)315-7623 (last time I checked).
Anytime after March will probably be good, but if you're doing this in the next two months, you might have some passes closed or requiring chains. Driving in late spring and summer often means long (30-45 minute) delays for roadwork.
The time of year will make a difference as to drive times and appropriate routes, by the way. It would be worth checking out road conditions at www.cotrip.org or (877)315-7623 (last time I checked).
Anytime after March will probably be good, but if you're doing this in the next two months, you might have some passes closed or requiring chains. Driving in late spring and summer often means long (30-45 minute) delays for roadwork.
Jan 10th, 2002, 02:13 PM
#4
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If you exit RCMP over Trail Ridge road and then go by way of Leadville, it would be a shame to not stop and enjoy the scenery. I suggest leaving over Trail Ridge and stopping in Leadville for some Americana of the brawling west.
(I still chuckle at the euphemism of "sporting houses" that some writer applied to some of the more profitable business establishments in the Leadville of Baby Doe Taber and the Unsinkable Molly.)
Then, I suggest continuing south down to Buena Vista from Leadville along the main ridge of the Saguache Range. The giants of Princeton, Massive, and Elbert will be visible.
Unfortunately the peaks of Yale and Harvard are hidden.
But others like Columbia and Antero are there to be seen.
If you are there in the late spring or summer or even the early fall, consider taking the dirt road over Cottonwood Pass from Buena Vista. The route leads right past Mount Yale, where you can see one of my old stomping grounds high up above you. Continue over the pass to Taylor Park and Taylor Reservoir. From there you can continue down Taylor Canyon to Gunnison. From Gunnison, detour past the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and from there to Ouray.
Above Ouray, up in the high country, Yankee Boy Basin is awesome. I do not know if the road up there is still passable by passenger cars or not. The last time I was there, some of the mines were still active, and the highway department was keeping the cribbing on the shelf roads in good repair and grading some of the roads. We drove up valley until the road got too rutted. Then we got out and then walked through seas of wild flowers all the way to the base of Mount Sneffels that towers some 3,000 feet or more above you. Mount Potosi is also there to be seen and you are surrounded by mountain ridges. (That is why it is a basin.)
From Ouray, the drive to Durango is over a most spectacular road. You traverse several major passes, including Red Mountain, Molas Divide, and Coalbank. Then you suddenly shift gears from the high country to Mesa Verde and those incredible Indian ruins.
You have the opportunity for a big trip with lots to see, so don't deprive yourself by rushing through it like gangbusters.
(I still chuckle at the euphemism of "sporting houses" that some writer applied to some of the more profitable business establishments in the Leadville of Baby Doe Taber and the Unsinkable Molly.)
Then, I suggest continuing south down to Buena Vista from Leadville along the main ridge of the Saguache Range. The giants of Princeton, Massive, and Elbert will be visible.
Unfortunately the peaks of Yale and Harvard are hidden.
But others like Columbia and Antero are there to be seen.
If you are there in the late spring or summer or even the early fall, consider taking the dirt road over Cottonwood Pass from Buena Vista. The route leads right past Mount Yale, where you can see one of my old stomping grounds high up above you. Continue over the pass to Taylor Park and Taylor Reservoir. From there you can continue down Taylor Canyon to Gunnison. From Gunnison, detour past the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and from there to Ouray.
Above Ouray, up in the high country, Yankee Boy Basin is awesome. I do not know if the road up there is still passable by passenger cars or not. The last time I was there, some of the mines were still active, and the highway department was keeping the cribbing on the shelf roads in good repair and grading some of the roads. We drove up valley until the road got too rutted. Then we got out and then walked through seas of wild flowers all the way to the base of Mount Sneffels that towers some 3,000 feet or more above you. Mount Potosi is also there to be seen and you are surrounded by mountain ridges. (That is why it is a basin.)
From Ouray, the drive to Durango is over a most spectacular road. You traverse several major passes, including Red Mountain, Molas Divide, and Coalbank. Then you suddenly shift gears from the high country to Mesa Verde and those incredible Indian ruins.
You have the opportunity for a big trip with lots to see, so don't deprive yourself by rushing through it like gangbusters.
Jan 10th, 2002, 05:46 PM
#5
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Posts: n/a
Thank you all for your suggestions. This trip is in June so the roads most likely will be fine. We are doing a WI to CA family road trip and I am trying to decide how much time to spend in each place and make reservations. Years ago ('78) I spent the summer in Telluride and have not been back since; am really looking forward to the trip. Any more suggestions are much appreciated .For instance, if anyone knows if the dirt road from Buena Vista to Leadville is plausable in a loaded down Suburu let me know!
Jan 10th, 2002, 06:52 PM
#6
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Beuna Vista to Leadville dirt road?
Not familiar with it. I looked at my map of the San Isabel National Forest and it shows nothing that goes from Leadville to Buena Vista except the paved highway. I guess you could wander around on dirt roads and go from one place to the other, but the route would circuitous and lead you over some unmaintined roads that are probably passable only in a four wheel drive vehicle with high ground clearance.
As good as a Subaru Forester is, I am not sure I would it try it in one.
If you want to pack it out over a dirt road, take the one over Cottonwood Pass. In years past it was maintained and switched back up over a 12,000 foot pass to some very spectacular scenery.
Taylor Park itself is almost 10,000 feet high so the drop to the valley from the pass is not that great.
I have driven over the road in years past and thought it well maintained as dirt roads go.
But, those dirt roads are seasonal because of snow pack and run off.
It depends on how much snow fell and how quickly it melted and when the bulldozers could get up there to regrade the area.
There is only one pass out there that scared me: Independence Pass when traversing from west to east. Why?
On the western slope, the road is narrow and those big tour buses come blasting downhill, with you on cliffside and no guard rail. Those whunko buses take their half out of the middle, leaving you to use about a skinny quarter of an already narrow road. I can handle most of the roads out there, but I cannot handle a big bus barreling down on me.
Not familiar with it. I looked at my map of the San Isabel National Forest and it shows nothing that goes from Leadville to Buena Vista except the paved highway. I guess you could wander around on dirt roads and go from one place to the other, but the route would circuitous and lead you over some unmaintined roads that are probably passable only in a four wheel drive vehicle with high ground clearance.
As good as a Subaru Forester is, I am not sure I would it try it in one.
If you want to pack it out over a dirt road, take the one over Cottonwood Pass. In years past it was maintained and switched back up over a 12,000 foot pass to some very spectacular scenery.
Taylor Park itself is almost 10,000 feet high so the drop to the valley from the pass is not that great.
I have driven over the road in years past and thought it well maintained as dirt roads go.
But, those dirt roads are seasonal because of snow pack and run off.
It depends on how much snow fell and how quickly it melted and when the bulldozers could get up there to regrade the area.
There is only one pass out there that scared me: Independence Pass when traversing from west to east. Why?
On the western slope, the road is narrow and those big tour buses come blasting downhill, with you on cliffside and no guard rail. Those whunko buses take their half out of the middle, leaving you to use about a skinny quarter of an already narrow road. I can handle most of the roads out there, but I cannot handle a big bus barreling down on me.
